FORESEE

Foresee Research Group

Foresee Research Group is a non-governmental organisation that deals with consultancy, prevention, intervention and network building in the field of constructive conflict solution, restorative justice and prevention of social polarisation and exclusion.

Within this context, Foresee has begun to tackle the phenomena of social hatred and extremism, as expressed by acting and speaking against minorities as well as the homeless, elderly, disabled or otherwise marginalised people.

Currently Foresee does not receive any governmental support from the Hungarian government. Currently funds are primarily from the European Union and Foresee generate income from providing mediation and training services for statutory and private organisations both nationally and internationally.

Type of Organisation: Other

The Foresee Research Group uses restorative principles and approaches (dialogue processes and encounters) to prevent escalation of conflict. The focus is on prevention at school level: work is carried out with teachers and parents, who are trained to engage in open non-violent communication.

Foresee also carries out restorative projects at prison level, working with ‘in-cell’ and ‘staff-inmate’ conflicts. The group strives to empower prisoners by discussing the meaning of conflict and by exploring appropriate means of expression and practicing anger management. With regard to method,

Foresee applies a range of techniques quite flexibly: mediation, conferencing, peacemaking circles, family group conferencing, facilitated discussions and one-to-one restorative dialogue.

Foresee’s main projects include:

• ‘IMPRODOVA - Improving Frontline Responses to High Impact Domestic Violence’ (2018-2021)
• ‘Mediation and restorative justice in prison’ (2009- 2012)
• ‘Peace-making circles in Europe’ (2011-2013)
• ‘Resolving disputes in twenty-first century’ (REDICT) (2011-2013)
• ‘Developing alternative understandings of security and justice through restorative justice approaches in intercultural settings within democratic societies’ (ALTERNATIVE) (2012-2016).

Foresee’s multi-agency team of researchers and facilitators work with disadvantaged groups, local communities, schools and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as practitioners and policymakers in criminal justice fields (victim support, offender processing, probation and prison work), social welfare and education.

A particularly promising aspect of Foresee’s approach is that it is safely anchored in well-established restorative justice methodology; it can adapt and advance into prevention work against hate crime and extremism. Foresee has recently completed its pilot project on mediation and restorative justice in prison, working with staff, inmates, families and victims. It is exploring new methodologies appropriate for hate crime and extremism and for deradicalisation intervention.

Foresee is running diverse action research projects which also provide conflict resolution practices (including training sessions) using the restorative justice approach. The research targets community-level conflict (in villages and smaller localities) in schools and juvenile homes as well as in the criminal justice and prison context.

Throughout these projects, Foresee tackles problems such as stereotypes, prejudices, aggression, lack of understanding and intolerance, among many others.

On the one hand, these issues are often at the root of aggressive behaviour, when it is motivated by violent and hateful ideas/thoughts. On the other hand, they are also symptoms of other, underlying social problems that need to be addressed.

Since 2009, Foresee has been co-founded through its projects with the national and European programmes listed below.

• 2018-2021: partner in the ‘IMPRODOVA - Improving Frontline Responses to High Impact Domestic Violence’ research consortium funded by the European Union, focusing on providing solutions for an integrated response to High Impact Domestic Violence (HIDV), based on comprehensive empirical research of how police and other frontline responders (e.g. medical and social work professionals) respond to domestic violence in European countries.
• 2015-2016: partner in the international ‘Education for sentenced minors and adults (ESM-YA)’ project, funded by the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme.
• 2015: implementing restorative practices in the Rákospalota Juvenile Institution — a training project funded by the Ministry of Human Resources.
• 2014–2015: in cooperation with Focus and Inhall Researching Ltd, the Foresee Research Group was responsible for conducting qualitative and quantitative research at the request of the Ministry of the Interior. The aim was to evaluate and follow up on EU-funded prison projects carried out in Hungarian prisons: it involved 80 indepth interviews, 500 questionnaires and 14 focus groups.
• 2014-2015: in cooperation with Focus and Inhall Researching Ltd, the Foresee Research Group was responsible for conducting quantitative research at the request of the Ministry of the Interior. The survey’s (n=2000) aim was to evaluate the impact of a 2-year-long community policing programme implemented in 5 Hungarian cities.
• 2012–2016: Hungarian partner in the consortium for the FP7-funded project, ALTERNATIVE (‘Developing alternative understandings of security and justice through restorative justice approaches in intercultural settings within democratic societies’). This involved leading the action research site in Hungary.
• 2012-present: active membership in the European Commission-funded Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) Deradicalisation working group and in its Centre of Excellence, coordinated by Radar (the Netherlands)
• 2011-2013: action research on implementing peacemaking circles in the criminal justice system for a project funded by the European Commission’s Criminal Justice Programme, JUST/2010/JPEN/AG/1609 (consortium leader: University of Tubingen, Germany).
• 2011-2013: ‘Resolving disputes in the 21st century’ (REDICT), an international exchange project funded by the European Commission’s Grundtvig Programme.
• 2009–2010: evaluation and sustainability analysis of 100 crime prevention projects, funded by the Hungarian Crime Prevention Board of the Ministry of Justice
• 2010: ‘Climate+: community conflict resolution in schools’, a methodological development project funded by the Ministry of the Interior.
• 2009-2012: consortium leader of the EU-funded project ‘Mediation and restorative justice in prison’ (MEREPS) (JLS/2008/JPEN015-30-CE-0267156/00-39; partnering countries: Germany and the United Kingdom).
• 2009: ‘Community conflict resolution in Nagybörzsöny’, a research and training project funded by the Ministry of the Interior’s National Crime Prevention Board.

Completed projects are disseminated; selected deliverables are listed below.

- Foresee has produced several videos on the method of diverse dialogue approaches in schools, in local communities, and within the judicial system. All videos are subtitled in English.

- ‘Positive climate project’: Preventing aggression and building positive social climate in schools.

- Barabás, T., Fellegi, B., & Windt, S. (2012). Responsibility-taking, relationship building and restoration in prisons. Mediation and Restorative Justice in Prison Settings. Budapest: PT Mühely.

- Fellegi, B., & Szegő, D. (2013). Handbook for Facilitating Peacemaking Circles. Budapest: PT Mũhely. 

Address

Foresee Research Group
H-1092 Budapest,
Bakáts tér 3, Hungary

Contact person: Dr Borbála Fellegi, executive director
Telephone: (+36) (70) 365 0630
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